2014 Season

Loyola Softball Blog Entry #2

Emily Bentley talks about the team's final full week of practice before the 2012 opener

Thanks to unseasonable weather, Emily Bentley and her Loyola teammates got a rare chance to get onto the field for practice this week

Feb. 24, 2012

Hello all!

As of today, we are one week out from opening our season in warm, sunny Oklahoma. Well, I don't know about warm and sunny, but it will definitely be a step up from the snowy Chicago of the last 24 hours! The whole team is extremely excited because after months of training since our fall season concluded, we are ready to get back out on the field.

The freshmen are especially excited to be heading into their first college season. I remember what I felt like as a freshman getting ready to play, all of a year ago. I was nervous, of course, but also excited. I thought I knew what being in season would be like, having played a fairly competitive travel softball schedule, but nothing could prepare me for Division I softball. It was a blast but also the most hectic time of my life and I can't wait for our freshmen to experience that for themselves.

This week has been fairly straightforward for the team. Class, practice, eat, sleep, and repeat. Before the weather took a turn for the worse, we were even able to go outside for a couple of days. It took some coaxing with rakes (see the lovely picture) but eventually the edge of our dirt was in good enough shape to take a couple of rounds of infield and although the bounces were a bit unnatural, I think it was overall the most entertaining round of ground balls I have ever taken. We were almost hysterically happy and it showed (I think our team chaplain, Adam, was also a little to blame).

On Thursday, we took our team picture which will appear everywhere from our website to the posters scattered around campus. We took them a little later in the year than usual but we wanted to wait until the new uniforms came in...and oh, did the new uniforms come in! They are amazing and include a shockingly bright pair of pants, so just wait until you see us out on the field in those!

Thankfully, our class schedules this week do not include the multiple tests that were present last week, but that probably won't last long since midterms are quickly approaching. One thing I love about spring break, besides the team trip, is the chance to catch up on homework. There is still softball going on but at least we do not have additional classes piling the work on at the same time. It's a week of preparing ourselves for the crazy time management that is to come.